hoopla

Spencer just moved up one position in the pecking order but he'll still need 1-2 injuries in order to break into the team.

.... which is just as well - because he was a long way short of AFL standard even before a knee reco. hindered his development

Dees have recruited the 2011 Nth Melbourne Club Doctor.

Thanks for that

Hopefully its good news for us - and (more) bad news for North.

Where is this theory that being a club doctor is a sacrifice coming from? Surely it's a great honour. I'm not saying we shouldn't be thankful for the great service of our previous doctors, but if I was a sports medicine doctor then I'd be over the moon to be working with an AFL club in what is arguably the most advanced sports medicine field in the country and not too far off the best in the world. Sure, being a part time position you have to balance the work for the club with your other work which can make things difficult, but I don't see the negatives out weighing the positives.

It may be an honour but it can also mean 80 hour weeks, no family time and a dramatic cut in income. These people are highly skilled professionals - the novelty would wear off pretty quickly !

About 3 weeks ago I heard from an internal staff member (not full time) within the fitness department that a new doctor had been appointed. My contact was couldn't remember the doctors name; there had been a lot of new names introduced over the previous couple of days!

Good news - I hope you are right - and I hope the concerns expressed in this thread will lead the club to announce it quick smart (just as it announced Daff's departure)

The delay in naming the club's medical people is a concern because of the background and the long periods of valued service provided by the previous doctors who apparently left hastily and in unhappy circumstances.

Yes.. especially given the scarcity of suitably qualified specialists. Club doctors are required to give up an enormous amount of time - including at least 30 weekends. Presumably they sacrifice a lot of money - because they are not available to build their ongoing practices.

No sooner will people come up for air after the holidays than the pre-season cup will be on us. You'd like to think that the new person would be up to speed with the condition of all players before the season starts

Absolutely Ralph. Imagine if a serious injury does occur. Ambulance style and we have no club doctor on sight. No future recruits would want to come near us. Sort it out quickly please MFC. Priority one.

I think you'll find that they have to have one.The problem is getting a good one. Can't afford to have someone who is less than fully competent or committed

The bloke at Richmond is a life-long Melbourne supporter - but he had so much respect for Daff he'd be sceptical about going into an environment which alienated him. I just hope others in the industry don't think the same way

The position of club doctor is not included in the staff list set out in the Yearbook.

Does that mean the club intends to manage injuries using a panel of specialist medical practitioners without a fully qualified in-house resource - or that they have not yet found a replacement for Andrew Daff? As a fully qualified medical practitioner must surely be on hand at every game, I presume the latter.

I have heard that sports medicine experts of Daff's quality are very hard to find. We have until late February to find someone.

Does anyone have any inside information on the status of attempts to fill this position?

I agree with Eddie's aggressive approach.

Eddie is a disgrace. He made these comments on his radio show............. how does he front a national football channel (Fox Footy) as someone supposedly interested in promoting the game when he has threatened to destroy an interstate club. His continued unwillingness to recognise that he has a fundamental conflict of interest is shameful

For once - although I hate GWS - I absolutely agree with Sheedy for having a crack at.him

Eddie - you are either President of one club ... or a balanced media personality. You cannot be both

Doesn't have to be in the last quarter. Crucial moment - the first minute of the 2000 Grand Final - David Neitz .... shouldn't be overlooked.

But Simon Eishold's performance in 1987 will never be beaten. In fact I'd have it for the double - "Worst Important Kick" and "Worst Kick"

You might not mind him but he is not a small crumbing forward.

Correct.... he is a leading forward. Smart footballer - and a good kick - but has never stood front and square ready to dive in and under in his life.

Not an option for us.

1. Are the Aints as a club ( not the Supporters) happy to see Misson go?

2. Do the MFC at this moment have no medical representatives?

No and No

I have it on good authority ( a fellow medico) that politics was behind his departure.These things happen .... and they are rarely one person's fault

Daff is certainly one of the very best around .... and he will not be easily replaced - both for his considerable skills and his commitment to the club.

We need to find a quality replacement asap . That is the key

I managed to pop in at training this morning. It was a perfect morning to train.

I will give a quick run down on all players present.

• Bail - Did the entire session........

..................

• Watts - Did entire session, ran with Bate, pushed himself, but dropped back a little, no shame as I thought Bate was flying. He looks alot better without the mop of hair he had in the 2nd half of the year. Watched him closely with the forwards, he is turning into a real leader in that group. Punished himself if he missed a target and was always asking Leigh Brown questions. He wants success.

• Green - Same as Chip and Trenners.

• Evans - The boy ran alot of laps! Did some one on one kicking but did not join in the main skills session.

• Lawence - Did not see him.

• Nicholson - Ran with JMac, this kid moves well on the track. Like with Howe just loves being out there.

Overall I was quite impressed with where the group was at, with only a few guys not doing any meaningful running or kicking.

Great comprehensive post mate.... not bad for no.3 !! Thanks for the info

I have to say, while it was good to see him standing up for his team, it would have been better to see him being involved in the game. He picked up an easy goal from a turnover directly in front and otherwise did diddly. Sadly similar to his form for most of the year. I really hope he puts 2011 ina box somewhere and plays the way we know he can next year.

Yes... definitely showed leadership .... except that he missed a couple of captain's goals. For a deep forward , he does lack a bit of pace on the lead but he is prepared to put his body on the line when the ball is in the air. He is a beautiful kick - if he can recover his accuracy in front of goal he will be an asset next year.

This clearly a case of too many journalists chasing too little news.

The situations are so different they do not bear comparison. Apart from the obvious ... there is the small matter of a father wanting to settle his family in Melbourne so as to minimize the uncertainties/distractions facing his son during his VCE year !!

The excitement you seem to be referring to is the excitement of the newbies after they've been selected in the draft and there's no doubt that this can sometimes be exciting.

However, I'm looking at it from the point of view of the anticipation and the excitement in the month or so leading up to the draft and the discussions on who you might get with your first pick.

When your first pick is 36, you don't get much of a kick out of following the Herald Sun series of the 30 top draft prospects "Pick Me" because you know that the chances are that you won't get near to the better ones anyway even if one comes down to your pick..

Agree. If those sporty parents who conceived in 1993 had known that their sons would have to start their careers in Blacktown , they might have been a bit more careful with their use of contraceptives.

Anyway back to more serious matters. How many of these picks are we going to use? I think I'm right in saying that the 3 compulsory changes on your primary list can now include rookie promotions. If Evans or Nicholson are promoted we'd only have one spot to fill .... unless of course two or three more delistings are to come

So Joe Gutnick asked Jeff Kennett to be President as he walked out the door ..... hardly news I would have thought

I think we should draft MaCaffer with pick 36.

And then we should get Mark Blake and Steven Armstrong with the next 2.

Just cos.

I'd agree.... except that we have to save one of those places for Michael Newton's promotion from the rookie list

Announced today; Johnstone (delisted) McNamara (delisted) Campbell (retired)....................

....waiting....waiting......Silence!

Has he pulled it off again? Has he fooled a 3rd Coaching Group?

Credit where credits due ... one of the great con-artists of all time. Wonder if he's still driving THAT car?

Just for morale, we need to snag a big strong aggressive forward, especially an Irish one at that. Make the deal MFC.

I've got a mate who's a fanatical St Kilda supporter. He was rapt when Lyon walked out because "he didn't give a potential gun like that Walsh kid a go" He reckons Walsh is a beauty

Walsh is just the sort of player we should put through our new development programs

I think if this doesn't come off we will have to drop it, we can't be seen to be hawking ourselves to whatever/whoever is available, it's not a nice look and smacks of desperation.

To me its a great move .We went into the draft with money to spend ( the money put aside for Scully). If we can't pull a big- bodied big monied player in next year, we'll have to pay our current list above the odds to meet the 92.5% minimum payment rule.

Clark is a special talent .... and he wants out of Brisbane. His preference may be Perth - but word is that his main aim is to get out of Brisbane. Rawlings knows the man - and he knows his motives Now that Dawes is out of the picture - why not try to put something together that will get Clark down here?He would add size, depth, flexibility to our list. He'd make a huge difference to us leading into our premiership window.

You can't compare Clark to Setanta .We could pick up Setanto for a song if we wanted a protector on the forward line for the next year or two ... or a work horse to help out at training.

Nothing ventured.... nothing gained

Think about it, Mitch!!

Jordan Lisle? who can tell me about him?

I havnt seen him play but hear he is big and can take marks, doesnt kick a heap of goals though, 5 games in 4 years for the hawks?

I will bid Bate and a 3rd round pick lets talk hawks?

Saw Jordan Lisle play a lot in his last year at school.

Relatively agile for his size and capable of taking a strong contested mark. Tended to play in bursts and go missing for long periods. Played most of his junior footy at CHF with occasional runs in the ruck - but got drafted ( at 50) because of some good performances at CHB for Vic Metro. Has played mainly forward with Box Hill - where I have heard he has again struggled to put in 4 solid quarters.

Definitely has ability - and may look the goods from time to time - but would have to be regarded as a speculative trade at best

Geez I feel sorry for Barty. He cops so much sh!t on this site, and like Jones, I think it is quite unfair. He is one of the best taggers on our list, and would take a couple of bloody good players to make him surplus.

No ....would only take one average to good player at the most

I think Melbourne is in an extremely fortunate position to have, in Max Gawn and Jack Fitzpatrick, two immensely tall, agile and quick young ruckmen. There's plenty of tall 200cm types around but it's rare to find two with the mobility of these two and it's going to be interesting watching them develop in the coming years and more so, seeing what a creative and innovative coach can do with a pair of players who possess their attributes.

I think the discussion where it's suggested that a one game player needs to prove himself is laughable especially one day after Geelong ruckman Trent West collected a premiership medal after playing just his 20th AFL game. For the record, West was selected at # 31 in the 2005 national draft, spent his first two seasons in the VFL and made his debut in 2008. Like Gawn and Fitzpatrick, West is noted for his good mobility and athleticism.

I can't for the life of me understand how the fools at Geelong could have held onto him for so long even through their long period of sustained success and why they never asked him to prove himself straight after he made his debut back in 2008?

Well said .To write off a 200 cm 19 year old on the basis of one game is ridiculous.

Give the guy a break - will be around for a few seasons yet

I hope you are wrong ... because If you are right , we won't be moving far up the ladder

A couple of years ago , I would have confused this announcement with a Monty Python script or a misdated April Fools'Day gag. But right now,I'll back him in.

He has been a part-time coach at the Calder Cannons for the last four years .... so coaching is clearly what he has set himself to do.

The way he has re-invented himself over the past couple of years shows he is deep thinker about the game and a hard worker. He understands what success means. He will be aligned with Neeld's philosophies.

Within 48 hours of the Grand Final- no mucking around. Good stuff

Really, with his limitations, it's an indictment on the club that he survives purely by doing what all players should be expected to do

That just about sums it up

If he remains in our best 22, then we will remain a battling club

There is not a place for him on the list of a club that is serious about playing finals'footy